Political theory in the Australian Journal of Political Science: A review

The place of political theory in AJPS has historically been a fairly marginal one, partly because Australia does not seem to have a strong national tradition of political theorizing. This is thought to be a function of living in a nation that never produced a great political theorist and was born neither in revolution or utopianism. Yet, although there has been a marked absence of high theory or exegetically-inclined history of ideas over the life of the journal, theorists have responded by contributing work that usefully illuminates applied problems with theoretical insight. Further, it may be the case that there is a peculiarly Australian style of political theory that is pragmatic and self-consciously embedded within our institutions and political culture. The paper explores this and other means by which Australian theorists have adapted in order to retain a presence within the journal.     

政治-社会史:深化史学研究的新路径

自上世纪80年代社会史研究复兴以来,长期处于史学研究核心的政治史作为方法论的支配地位渐趋式微。但就政治与社会的密切关系、中国传统社会政治一体化的特征及社会史研究整体性目标的追求而言,“政治—社会史”的研究理应成为当前政治史研究的一个新路径。在坚持唯物史观、以历史学为本位的前提下,借鉴政治学、社会学与人类学等学科的理论与研究方法,由更广义的政治现象切入社会生活,考量政治与社会环境、社会结构、社会文化、社会治理等方面的互动关系及其影响,则可以深化传统的政治史的研究。     

The Two Social Philosophies of Ostroms' Institutionalism

The article argues that Ostroms' institutionalism has a dimension that is complex and profound enough to deserve to be considered a “social theory” or a “social philosophy.” The article pivots around the thesis that the “social philosophy” behind the Bloomington School's research agenda has in fact two facets that may or may not be consistent with each other. The article describes the main features of the two facets, offers a brief overview of the development of these ideas, and clarifies their relationship to Public Choice theory and alternative visions of public goods analysis, public administration, and governance. The argument goes further to raise the provocative question whether the two “social philosophies” involved in the approach undertaken by Elinor Ostrom and Vincent Ostrom are necessarily and inseparably connected with the rest of their research program.     

Cesare Beccaria’s On Crimes and Punishments: the meaning and genesis of a jurispolitical pamphlet

At the heart of the criminal reform proposed in Cesare Beccaria’s 1764 Dei delitti e delle pene (On Crimes and Punishments) are the principles of penal parsimony derived from a precise interpretation of the social contract. Punishment, being no more than a necessary evil devoid of any intrinsic virtue, must serve no more than a preventative function to the smallest possible extent; its application strictly bound by the principle of legality. Beccaria’s criminal philosophy, therefore, attempts to drastically reduce the power of the penal institution. After recounting its principal aspects, this article seeks to propose a new interpretation of Beccaria’s theory from the perspective of its historical context. The Italian Enlightenment philosopher did not so much express indignation against the barbarism of the Milanese penal system, but rather instigate a rebellion against the political dominance of its patriciate, whose power had long been validated by its juridical functions. In this respect, Beccaria sought to combat the political hegemony of the jurists, concluding his treatise by excluding juridical thought from, and thus removing the intellectual foundations of, the practice of criminal law.     

从社会史视角看刘铭传的入仕

刘铭传是特定历史时期--19世纪中期战乱之际,通过非常规仕途进入上层政权的极具代表性的地方精英.从刘铭传的入仕,可透视晚清基层社会与上层政权发生的深刻变化、晚清统治危机的特殊性、中国传统社会发展趋势的深层基础等.     

西方学界关于中世纪英国工资史的研究

工资史是经济史研究中的一个重要组成部分,西方史学界对中世纪英国工资史的关注由来已久,大致经历了三个阶段:开端,主要是数据的统计与整理;拓展,经历了人口论和货币论关于工资涨幅影响因素的争论;深入,从经济—社会史角度研究工资史。理清楚这些线索,对我们进行中世纪英国工资水平的探讨无疑具有重要的意义。     

一部展现当代中国社会历史全貌的著作--读《当代中国社会史》

中国社会史研究自20世纪80年代全面复兴以来,逐步从历史学的边缘领域走向舞台中心。1996年,为进一步确立社会史学科的性质、任务和地位,加强对社会史研究的“宏观把握、整体架构工作”,由龚书铎任总主编,曹文柱和朱汉国任副总主编的8卷本《中国社会通史》出版面世,描摹了先秦至民国数千年间中国社会发展变迁的历史图景。     

SOCIALIST COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AND THE SPRING OF 1917

The Russian Revolution of 1917 presented Swedish Social Democrats with a dilemma: how could they use the transnational revolutionary momentum to further universal suffrage, without supporting actions possibly leading to violence? In striking this balance, the use of communications was central. This article uses the concept of the media system to analyse the communicative practices and strategies developed by the Party in the early 20th century, and how these were employed between 1915 and 1917, in relation to the hunger marches and revolutionary pressures. The study shows that the Party had established conscious agitation strategies and an elaborate national communication structure, which enabled coordinated opinion activities. As early as 1915, the Party began using these tools to initiate a national opinion movement concerning the food situation. In 1917, faced with the combination of events in Russia and erupting hunger marches, the Party leadership chose to emphasize security and stability, focusing on events the Party could control, such as the 1 May demonstrations. The resulting development of revolutionary opinion in Sweden during the spring of 1917 and the ensuing political changes reflected conscious media management strategies by the Left, who used the media system to navigate and shape a transnational revolutionary moment.     

THE “THEORETICAL REVOLUTION” IN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY: FROM THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL IDEAS TO THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL LANGUAGES

This article intends to clarify what distinguishes the so‐called new “politico‐intellectual history” from the old “history of political ideas.” What differentiates the two has not been fully perceived even by some of the authors who initiated this transformation. One fundamental reason for this is that the transformation has not been a consistent process deriving from one single source, but is rather the result of converging developments emanating from three different sources (the Cambridge School, the German school of conceptual history or Begriffsgeschichte, and French politico‐conceptual history). This article proposes that the development of a new theoretical horizon that effectively leads us beyond the frameworks of the old history of political ideas demands that we overcome the insularity of these traditions and combine their respective contributions. The result of this combination is an approach to politico‐intellectual history that is not completely coincident with any of the three schools. What I will call a history of political languages entails a specific perspective on the temporality of discourses; this involves a view of why the meaning of concepts changes over time, and is the source of the contingency that stains political languages.     

“A Rather Stupid Sort of Game Played by the Bald and Obese Middle-aged”: Partisanship and Patronage in Late Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century English Canadian Historical Writing

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, English Canadian historians and other thinkers came to revise the history of the struggle for Responsible Government in Upper and Lower Canada, along with the accepted narrative of political developments during the early nineteenth century. This revisionism reflected a contemporary critique of “partyism” which was seen to be an outcome of extreme partisanship, patronage, and the brokerage system of politics. These practices were characterized as irrational, inefficient, and a threat to social cohesion and national unity. Moving away from a “Whiggish” vision of political progress in Canada, historians increasingly came to use “excessive” partisanship as a negative characteristic in the evaluation of past events and individuals. The increasing authority of the “new” social scientists is seen in the move away from moralistic condemnations of partyism. Overall, the writing of history was significantly shaped by the sense of political disillusionment felt by English Canadian intellectuals in how liberal democracy was practiced in their society.     

Leroi-Gourhan, a Philosopher of Technique and Evolution

With the publication of two volumes on technology—L'Homme et la matière and Milieu et technique in 1943–45, and Le geste et la parole (translated into English in 1993 as Gesture and Speech)—-Leroi-Gourhan asserted himself as a major social anthropologist, prehistorian, and the founder of the French schools of the ethnology of technique and of prehistoric ethnology. This paper analyzes the innovative concepts and the content of these original works, which draw their inspiration and data from biology, physiology, psychology, anthropology, and prehistory to study evolution, and technique as its medium, to create a global science of humanity.     

无锡古城琐议

一“无锡”作为地名,首见于《史记》。该书《东越列传》中载：“东越将多军,汉兵至,弃其军降,封为无锡侯。”这是汉武帝元封元年（公元前１１０年）的事情。作为县名的“无锡”,见于东汉时班固所作的《汉书》和袁康、吴平所辑录的《越绝书》。《汉书·地理志》中将无...     

Studying the Development of Complex Society: Mesopotamia in the Late Fifth and Fourth Millennia BC

Inca specialist D'Altroy (2001, Uruk Mesopatamia and Its Neighbours: Cross-Cultural Interactions in the Era of State Formation, School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM, p. 445) has written, Uruk Mesopotamia has stood as the model for the study of the rise of the state for several decades. Work on this problem of the origin of complexity has remained one of the foci of scholarly research even these several decades after the completion of many of the classic and key studies of Uruk culture and its neighbors in adjoining areas. At the same time, the questions asked, the size and richness of the empirical record, and the interpretations of various scholars have undergone significant change. These changes parallel scholarly trends in studies of similar phenomena in other areas of the world. This article reviews key questions that are currently being asked about societal complexity with a primary focus on the cultures and societies of late fifth and fourth millennia BC Mesopotamia. In doing so, new perspectives and interpretations on perhaps the earliest complex societies are synthesized and assessed.     

BIOPOLITICS AMONG THE DISCIPLINES

A new wave of publications attempts to bring together theory and history in order to reconsider the past, present, and future in light of a looming catastrophe. Whether in political theory, sociology, anthropology, or intellectual history, scholars are attempting to reflect about the present beyond the old boundaries that separate left and right, inner and outer, civilian and solider, friend and enemy. Three recent publications, by Catherine Mills, Didier Fassin, and an anthology edited by Devin Pendas, Mark Roseman, and Richard Wetzel, do so by considering the growth of biopolitical critique in their respective disciplines.     

国外城市非正规性研究进展及启示

21世纪以来,西方城市研究界认为大部分城市发展将发生在发展中国家,新的城市理论也将产生在这些新的地理空间,而城市非正规性是其主要特征。本文首先对城市非正规性的演变进行了梳理,认为城市非正规性的研究具有对\"二元主义\"的超越,\"传统\"非正规研究的超越和认识论上的转变3个特征,并明晰了城市非正规性的理论内涵是一种管治模式;其次,认为制度变迁和城市非正规性研究之间的焦距在于国家、地方政府、企业和个体等行动者之间的相互作用,在此基础上总结出了城市非正规性互补式、补充式和让步式3种主要类型;最后,从政治、社会和文化三个维度总结了非正规性在中国形成的根源,并提出非正规性可以理解成为中国城市发展的一种模式,非正规实践及非正规制度蕴含制度创新的启示。     

学术转型期的民国史研究--中华民国史国际学术讨论会纪要

2002年8月21－23日在北京举行了“中华民国史国际学术讨论会”。从提交此次会议的论文可以看出近年来民国史研究的几个基本特征：民国政治史在致力于突破,民国外交史因新史料的出现而凸现新意,民国社会史的研究日益深化,民国经济史的研究更加细化,民国思想文化与教育史领域的研究在不断拓宽,民国史料的不断发掘与学术史研究的重视。     

‘Eadem,sed aliter’: Arthur Schopenhauer as a Critic of ‘Progress’

Summary

Scholars have tended to overlook the political import of the ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860). This is perhaps unsurprising, since Schopenhauer himself was not a political philosopher and wrote relatively little about political matters. But Schopenhauer's near-silence on political topics should warrant our attention: why would a systematic philosopher, who made lasting contributions in metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics, devote so little attention to politics? Connecting his political thought with his philosophy of history, I argue that Schopenhauer can best be regarded as a critic of the idea of progress, especially ‘progress’ conceived of as national development or the growth of the state.